Why is it so gay and cliche?
Okay, so this drama has some extremely good elements, and then they just completely fail on others.First the good:
- Character design: not all were great, but Naoki was really well written and portrayed by the actor — easiest the best performance. Yukino was also great, the best written character by far. But the list stops there. Also, for acting/casting in general, I think all actors did well. I also suspect they all knew how to play instruments, it looked like it, at least. Another great thing, is how they created characters that represent minorities. So, a female drummer in a rock band? Not the usual pick. A seductive female singer who’s actually not that bad of a person? Great. A dude who is fangirling (might be a slight overstatement)? That’s what I dream about. What I think is a gay character in a place you wouldn’t expect one? Funny (not in a bad way) and great.
- Music: no one’s surprised there. I’m willing to bet quite the sum that 99% of the reviews are praising the music. It’s not the great music they make it out to be in the drama, because that’s not how music works, but we’ll get back to that. But rather it’s a type of music almost anyone can like, which is well done if you can achieve that since a film production would never want to push parts of the audience away if it can avoid it.
- Cinematography: so many times watching this, did I find myself just staring at the beautiful composition and interesting filming techniques. They did a lot of stuff I can’t say I’ve seen elsewhere, but it’s not the highlight of the drama, that’s made clear. It’s spice, if you will, to flavorblast the drama, nothing more. The colors were really well tended to, and costume design too. All the characters had such unique styles that worked together yet still separated them. You could show me an outfit from the drama, without the person who wore it, and I could tell you whom it belonged to, even without remembering from the drama.
Now the bad (buckle up, this is going to be long):
- So goddamn gay: these writers don’t know how to make friendships seem genuine without making them gay. There’s so much physical contact — which can be good, don’t get me wrong — but when two guys are staring into each other’s souls while holding hands, I can’t help but wonder if they’re gay at least a little bit. They also say so many things that would be cringe or cliche even for a romantic interest to say. And I’m not talking about one or two male characters here, no, I'm talking about the all of the main male characters.
- Cliches: the things they say, do and apparently feel are all so cliche. The stare into each other’s eyes, they lean in close to look out the window, the character who was closed off but now has opened his heart, I could go on.
- That’s not how music works: I must admit: I don’t know much about music, but I know a lot about many other art forms. And from what I know, that’s not how music works. It’s not like everyone agrees that someone is just amazing and a god, because it all comes down to preference. Of course, you can tell when someone’s good, but to call them a god and think that everyone knows them (including fans who doesn’t know much about music) is ridiculous. Tell me, when you were first introduced to Picasso, did you go “oh my god, what a masterpiece. This artist is a god!”? ‘Cause I sure as hell did not.
Also, that with your “own sound” and stuff, I don’t believe it. Might be true, but I’m just not buying. Sure, people playing their instruments probably sound different to others on that same instrument, but I think it still comes down to preference, not a sound from inside you that determines how you play.
- Reveals and pacing: first off, this drama loves to give you something to wonder about the literal minute before it happens. Imagine a crime drama, and they’re about to reveal the killer, but right before they do, they give you (the viewer) an obvious clue as to who it was. So, you just think “oh, it must be them!” and then right after you think that, they reveal it to you. It gives you nothing to hold on to while watching, because the adrenaline (which makes you excited and wanting to know what will happen next and if you’re right about your guess) runs out the moment it’s revealed.
Secondly, they also love to hide things from you, and then after the reveal, they start showing the hints/signs of this being the case. So, as an example, let’s say someone’s sisters, but the drama hides it from you, but then you find out, and now they’re suddenly calling each other “sister” when they never did so before. You had no chance of guessing earlier, because nothing about them could’ve suggested to you that they were related. And now, after you know, they’re suddenly drowning you in signs that simply weren’t there before? Cheap.
- Character design: yes, it’s back. Just now I praised Naoki’s character for being well written, but he isn’t really that well written, a lot about him doesn’t make sense, and he constantly walks the line between fun genius and a baby who can’t take care of himself. Besides, the whole show revolves around him, but he doesn’t really care for anyone else. Sure, he says it’s because he was locked away or something, but it’s still possible to acknowledge that someone is in the room with you. Every character just wants to take care of him so badly “oh, it’s a pleasure to take care of him, that’s enough reward for me”. Like, seriously? If he was a baby I would understand, but it’s a grown ass man you’re talking about here, much less your boss/leader.
The villain character here is also just sloppily done. He doesn’t really make sense, he is so little impactful I actually groaned whenever he came onscreen, and he just did nothing for the plot — everything he did was behind the scenes, we never saw him actually doing the things, we just heard about the things he did.
I’d recommend this drama to people who like drama, music (rock or pop) and who can appreciate cinematography and visuals. I can’t imagine anyone truly loving this, but there’s probably someone who fits those criteria.
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This show is impossible to follow and only cares about friendship and drama
This drama made me so frustrated and I didn’t like it, but I still finished it within a week. So it must’ve done something right. Let’s start with the good, because there’s less of it.The good
I really like the friendship and romance. Honestly, I have no notes on the romance, it’s really good. The group of friends making up the main cast are portrayed well and their love for each other is very clear. I also really like that they all have nicknames for each other, and while it’s never really clear what they mean, you can guess. The focus on family and brotherhood is really good, and they keep it going with people around Min-jun calling him “hyung” or him calling them “hyung”. It’s really nice and precious. The humor is also often on point, and made me laugh more than I probably realize. The ending was also done well, it wrapped up nicely and in line with the characters’ personalities. It was very quick, but that didn’t really matter. The characters were also well defined and consistent. They weren’t vague to be relatable, and had clear motivations in line with their personalities.
The bad
Okay, where to start? Let’s start with the biggest issue, but that also kind of saves the drama: the pacing. Not only does the editor shift often and quickly between different shots, but there’s also never a moment to relax or breathe. If the point of your storytelling is to keep the watcher on their toes or to hide something in plain sight, then this is a great choice, but if you specifically want your watchers to understand and plot along with the characters, then this is the opposite of what you want. This drama is political, if you want someone to be able to follow the politics, then you need to give them time. It’s really important for the viewer to understand and be immersed in the plot, and you can also use that to trick them properly. The only reason the pacing saves this drama is because without the pacing keeping you on your toes and making you want to know and understand, you would stop watching.
Another major issue is how a lot goes unexplained. There’s a lady they thought died two years ago, but Mr. Choi finds some CCTV footage of her in a store. Not once is it mentioned when this footage is from. It could be 12 years old for all we know. But they send it to a lot of people and every single person that watches it goes “oh, she is alive”. HOW THE F DID YOU KNOW? This is just one of many, many examples. One of the more important things they never explain (at least not well) is why Min-jun was looking for this lady in the first place. I don’t know, I have no idea. They never really explained it, so I don’t know why. She became important, but that’s not why he was looking for her, because he didn’t know that.
These two things combined makes this a horrible political drama, because you can’t follow or understand anything. Another thing they love to do, just to make it even harder to follow, is to just cut from someone in one scene saying they’ll do something, and cutting to them doing it immediately. We don’t know how, where, when or even why they’re doing it, because they didn’t tell us or we didn’t get enough time to digest it.
In this drama they also LOVE to be a step ahead of their opponents. The funny thing is that their opponents are also a step ahead of them again, because the opponents know that they are a step ahead so they act accordingly. And then they are step ahead again. And who wins? The opponents, because they knew that too, and is another step ahead once again. It’s so tiring and confusing. It’s just a trick to keep you guessing and on your toes, but without proper pacing it just doesn’t work, because I wasn’t guessing. I gave up a long time ago on keeping up. I’m not tricked, I’m just sick of flashbacks trying to explain why the opposition won, when it seemed like the heroes were in the lead. (This is just an example, I’m not saying the antagonists win in the end, it’s just to prove a point)
A last thing I wanted to complain about: the Chas. Chairman Cha and his daughter are so incompetent it’s ridiculous. They keep making mistakes and looking dumb because everyone else is a step ahead. They served almost no purpose. And I’m very sick of the female character who tries to keep up with the guys, thinks that she is as good/better, is predictable and therefore only used, and just not useful. It’s so unnecessary and just makes me mad. If this was a male character, then that’s fine, as long as it’s not a common thing. But it’s always a girl. And it is common. There’s two major female characters in this drama. Why is one in a romance and the other just a joke? Are those all the big roles they could think a woman could play? Even D.P. 2 had more and better female characters than this drama, and that’s about the mandatory military service for MEN.
(Also, I have never heard of a European style tie that is over the collar on one side and under on the other side. I liked the costume design on him, but seriously, they just made that up, right? I thought he just didn’t know his tie was crooked and was a messy and careless character, but no. It was on purpose)
If you’re going to watch this, know that you will only enjoy this if you prioritize drama and suspense over solving things yourself. The romance and friendship takes a backseat in this drama, but it’s the reason I finished. But know that the romance never really progresses beyond flirting.
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This drama is like a hug and a slap on a plate
I love every major character in this drama. And the very few I dislike, are antagonists. Every character is portrayed well and has depth. Not a single person is deprioritized, and everyone has a backstory, a motive and a dream. Most of the characters have character development, and they all care and root for each other.If you’re looking for a drama that is realistic and shows the harsh realities of prison, then this is not for you.
If you’re looking for an action drama about being unfairly imprisoned, then this is not for you.
But if you’re looking for a drama where you are rooting for literally everyone, where you care for and love all of them, a drama where you will be crying, yelling and laughing every episode, then this is for you.
The first episode is nothing like I have described, it’s mostly sad, funny and depressing, but so so worth it for the rest of the drama. Take your time getting through that first one, or do something else while watching, if you’re here for the fun. But it’s important to watch nonetheless.
The drama is also quite funny, but also sad at times. So I’m not just talking about the love.
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